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Early life

Hofi was born in Mandate Palestine in 1927. his youthful involvement in the labour movement would later commend him to Yitzhak Rabin. He joined the Palmach and fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.[2]

IDF

Hofi elected to stay in the army after independence. As a paratroop commander he led a number of operations in Sinai and the Gaza Strip prior to the 1956 Arab-Israeli war.[3] in the wake of the Suez campaign, Hofi led a group of Paratroop battalion commanders who rebelled against their Brigadier, Ariel Sharon, accusing him of remaining in the rear.[4]

He later served as a planning officer during preparations for the 1967 Six Day War. As head of the Army's Northern Command during the 1973 Yom Kippur War he was credited with being one of the officers who had anticipated the conflict amid a general perception of Israeli intelligence failure, and with recapturing the Golan.[2] His last position was as Acting Chief of General Staff after the war.[3]

Mossad

Hofi was appointed head of the Mossad by Yitzhak Rabin, partly because he was not seen as associated with the Yom Kippur intelligence failure. He brought a new focus on relations with Arab states, altough this was in part achieved through a relationship with Lebanese Maronites that reflected Mossad's traditional peripheral strategy.[2]

Hofi offered to resign when Menachem Begin became Prime Minister, but Begin gave him a key role in secret contacts with Egypt in Morocco that helped pave the way for the Camp David accords.[5]

Hofi was reportedly opposed to Israel's 1981 strike on Iraq's Osirak reactor for fear it would prompt Iraq to end its war with Iran and turn on Israel.[6] In the wake of the attack, he gave an unprecedented interview, saying politicians ought not to take too much credit.[4] This was an interpeted as an attack on Sharon and his links with journalist Uri Dan, who called for Hofi to be sacked. Sharon himself responded by trying to work around Mossad through informal networks that became known as 'Arik's Court'.[7]

Hofi nevertheless supported Sharon's alliance with the Lebanese Christian leader Bashir Gemayel, undercutting Aman's scepticism in the run-up to the 1982 invasion of Lebanon.[10] One of his last acts as head of Mossad was to inform Sharon that Gemayel had been killed in a car bomb attack.[11]